DGP says Rampal still in ashram, Khattar monitoring situation

With the situation at the ashram of 'godman' Rampal in Hisar district's Barwala town turning volatile, state DGP S N Vashisht Tuesday said the police was committed to bring out the godman who was "still inside" even as he described the operation as "very tough".

Chandigarh: With the situation at the ashram of 'godman' Rampal in Hisar district's Barwala town turning volatile, state DGP S N Vashisht Tuesday said the police was committed to bring out the godman who was "still inside" even as he described the operation as "very tough".

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was also closely monitoring the situation and was being given constant updates.

"The Chief Minister is keeping a close eye on the situation. He is regularly updating himself as the situation unfolds," Khattar's OSD Jawahar Yadav said.

Asked to comment on some mediapersons getting injured and cameras of some electronic media journalists getting broken in the melee at Satlok Ashram in Barwala town, Yadav said, "It is unfortunate. Media is fourth pillar of our democracy, but I don't know the exact details about the circumstances which led to the attack and injuries to many media personnel".

Speaking to reporters here, DGP Vashisht said as per their information Rampal was "still inside the Ashram".

"Our information is that he is still inside," he said.

Asked if there had been delay on the part of the police to secure Rampal, the DGP said they were in midst of a "very tough operation".

"One has to understand that we are facing a very hostile group inside the ashram. We know that there are women and children in numbers inside the ashram, and even babies, some just one-year-old. We have over-riding priority to save the innocent lives," he said.

He said the authorities had during the past few days cut-off supplies to the ashram, diverted traffic and used all sorts of "persuasive measures" to execute the High Court orders to secure Rampal.

"We are committed to carry out the directions of the High Court and at the same time use minimum force and avoid casualties altogether or keep it minimum," the DGP said.